Shelf-rail.



J. P. EUSTIS.

SHELF RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 30, 1912.

1,083,675 Patented Jan.6,1914

JOHN P. EUSTIS, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHELF-RAIL.

Specincation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

Application iled December 30, 1912. Serial No. 789,816.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN P. EUs'rIs, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shelf-Rails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of guard rails which are frequently employed in connection with shelves such as those which are usually made of glass and are employed in bathrooms. Guard rails of this class have been in use for some time, the same being mounted so that they may be swung upwardly away from the shelf so that access may be had to the entire upper surface of the shelf for the purpose of cleaning it.

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a guard rail with one or more padded or cushioned abutments of pecullar construction which will rest upon the upper surface of the shelf when the rail is in use, without danger of scratching or marring the shelf when the rail is lowered onto it; and especially to avoid the breaking or cracking of the shelf by the sudden dropping of the rail onto it.

Further objects are to provide a reliable and eflicient guard rail for shelves.

These being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and then claimed with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a suitable embodiment of the invention, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a shelf provided with the improved guard rail; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 Fig. 1, the guard rail being shown in using position in full lines, and in dotted lines being shown in a position to which it may be swung if there is no projection on the wall to preclude such position; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the preferred form of abutment pillar which is cushioned or padded at its lower end; Fig. 4 is a section at right angles to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan of the lower end of said abutment pillar, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a shelf provided with the guard rail.

Referring to the drawings, the shelf 1 may be of any suitable material but if the full benefits of the present invention are to be utilized, it is to be of glass as is customary in bathroom shelves. The shelf is supported in any suitable manner from the wall or other support, and it is not necessary to illustrate any of the various means which can be employed fo-r this purpose. Atthe back of the shelf 1 there are arranged preferably at least two U-shaped cla-mp brackets 2, and these are clamped to the shelf by means of set screws 3. Each of said brackets is provided with a surmounting post 4 formed with a cup-shaped base, an upwardly tapering neck above said base and an approxlmately spherical head, above said neck, having a transverse rail-hole, and to the upper end of the said posts in the railholes thereof are swiveled at 5 the inturned ends of the guard rail 6, 7. The side arms 6 of the guard rail extend forwardly over the ends of the shelf and the front bar 7 of the guard rail connects said side arms. Preferably, but not necessarily, the entire guard rail is made of one piece of tubular or solid rod metal bent into suitable shape.

Located upon the front bar 7 of the guard rail are one or more supporting or spacing depending abutment pillars 8, and if there be a plurality of such pillars, they are preferably arranged at equidistant points along the said front bar 7. 'lhe construction of the depending abutment pillars is illustrated in detail in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, where it will be seen that each abutment pillar is provided at its upper end with a spherical head formed with a transverse rail hole or bore 9 which receives the front rail 7 with a snug fit. lf necessary, each abutment pillar may be brazed or otherwise rigidly secured to the front rail. The upper end of said abutment pillar is preferably made rounded or spherical as shown in Fig. 1, but this is not absolutely essential. At the lower end of the preferably solid neck 9EL of the abutment pillar is provided a socket 10 of approximately hemispherical shape which extends at approximately a right angle to the said transverse rail hole 9 and is undercut as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so as to provide at the lower end of the socket at the extremity of the abutment pillar, a contracted opening defined by an annular lip 11. Each abutment lpillar is of less height than the heightto which the guard rail is to be positioned and set above the shelf. The normal height of the rail above the shelf is furnished by means of a cushioning or padding ball 12 which is pressed into the socket 10 so that the lip 11 will hold the said ball against accidental removal from the socket. It will be seen that the diameter of the balA is greater than the diameter of the opening defined by the lip 11, so that it is necessary to force the ball into the socket,

i is dropped or seated on the shelf. Normally the projecting part of cach ball is, approximately, equal in height to the thickness of the overlapping arm of the clamping bracket so that this projecting part of the abutment pillar provides a distance piece adapted to keep the guard rail level.

It will be seen that when the guard rail is in using position, the cushioning balls or the equivalent come in contact with the upper surface of the shelf so that the abutting material is not a hard material like that of the abutment pillars but is a soft and resilient material. It is perfectly obvious that in the employment of a hinged guard rail of the character described, a glass shelf would likely be broken or cracked by the sudden dropping of the rail if it were not padded 'or cushioned. The danger of breakage or cracking of the shelf is increased by the possible distance through which the guard rail might drop. For instance, if there was no obstruction on the wall or other support above the shelf, the guard rail might be swung into the position shown in dot-ted lines in Fig. 2, and the guard rail could have a drop practically from that position down to the shelf and the same would likely be broken if of glass. This danger is present whether the guard rail have the amount of swing indicated by dotted lines, or a lesser swing as it would have if the wall had for instance above the shelf, a medicine cabinet. Under the present invention it makes no difference whether the guard rail be dropped upon the shelf or not, as the pads or cushions will preclude the breakagel of the glass shelf. The abutment pillars are preferably arranged on the front bar of the guard rail so as to be located between the supporting brackets 2 for the guard rail, but obviously this is not necessary. Should any one or more of the ball cushions'become lost or damaged, another can readily be replaced in the socket by any person, as no glue or other special attaching means is required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A shelf-rail comprising U-shaped clamping brackets adapted to embrace the back edge of a shelf, each clamping bracket having a set screw for securing the clamping bracket in position and a post, surmounting the clamping bracket, formed with a head having a transverse rail-hole, a guard rail having a -front bar, side arms, and inturned ends, parallel with the front rod, and pivoted in the rail holes of the posts, and abutment pillars, each formed with a head having a transverse rail-hole receiving the front bar and an abutment having a projection providing a distance piece adapted to seat on the shelf and of the same height as the thickness of the overlapping arm of the clamping bracket so as to keep the guard rail level.

' JoHN P. EUsTIs.

Witnesses:

T. M. KEEFE, C. F. CnANDoN. 

